Sunday, April 12, 2009

Zany Zoo

Based on the activities and the participation of the kids at St Mary’s this week, I believe that age and gender played a huge role in a child’s ability to perform different skills. The skills we assessed today were the run, gallop, and hop. I believe the most challenging skill was the gallop. The girls were more relaxed when performing the skills. Whereas the boys wanted to do each skill as fast as they could. The one girl in particular that we watched was Casey, she was 6 years old in kindergarten. The only skill she had difficulty doing was the gallop, but after additional assistance she was able to gallop in no time. Age also played a factor in ability, for after the gym my group went to the Pre-K room, where I played dress up with the little girls. Finally, when we brought them back to the gym my group set up an obstacle course for them, but once again the boys went as fast as they could and the girls were more relaxed. Over all they were constantly running; both age and gender played a role in their ability.

Today at St. Mary’s my group put together the game zany zoo, which allowed the children to perform a variety of different motor skills in relay race form. This was a great way for me to get some interaction with the students on a personal level. There have been some “teaching strategies” that I have been trying to work on when I am with the children. Today during my group’s game, zany zoo, I worked on interacting with the children. This means getting down to their level, talking to them, reading them the cards, and even demonstrating, therefore they know what you are looking for. This interaction allows for the kids to get to know me and trust me, as a teaching figure.